$120M Mixed-Use Lakefront High-Rise Proposed

The underused Downtown Transit Center could be replaced by a 44-story hotel and apartment development. BizTimes Milwaukee reports that developer Rick Barrett, architect Matt Rinka and county officials have unveiled plans for a $120 million tower overlooking Lake Michigan. Called The Couture, the new high-rise would feature a hotel with 180 guest rooms, 179 high-end apartments, restaurants, retail space and 775 parking spaces. Upon completion, the building would be the third tallest in Milwaukee after the U.S. Bank Center and the 100 East office building. The Couture is expected to generate more than 4,400 construction jobs, 200 permanent jobs and an anticipated $2 million in tax revenue.

The underused Downtown Transit Center could be replaced by a 44-story hotel and apartment development. BizTimes Milwaukee reports that developer Rick Barrett, architect Matt Rinka and county officials have unveiled plans for a $120 million tower overlooking Lake Michigan.

Called The Couture, the new high-rise would feature a hotel with 180 guest rooms, 179 high-end apartments, restaurants, retail space and 775 parking spaces. Upon completion, the building would be the third tallest in Milwaukee after the U.S. Bank Center and the 100 East office building. The Couture is expected to generate more than 4,400 construction jobs, 200 permanent jobs and an anticipated $2 million in tax revenue.

On July 23, the County Board’s Economic and Community Development Committee will meet to review the project. Barrett, who is currently developing the 30-story Moderne apartment high-rise in downtown Milwaukee, is among the four developers interested in the transit center redevelopment. Wauwatosa-based Irgens, Wauwatosa-based Wangard Partners and Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. have also responded to the County’s request for information, the newspaper reports.

In other news, the Forest County Potawatomi Community has broken ground on a $150 million, 381-room hotel at the site of the Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley.

Scheduled for a summer 2014 opening, the 20-story building will generate 230 permanent jobs and nearly 1,000 construction jobs. The hotel will include a full-service spa and restaurant, meeting space and two presidential suites spanning the entire length of the top two floors.

BizTimes Milwaukee reports that the Potawatomi Bingo Casino is the largest tribally owned facility in the country that lacks a hotel on site. After commissioning the consulting firm Pinkowski & Co.to conduct an economic impact study, the tribe concluded that the hotel would increase the number of regional visitors to its casino.